Monthly Archives: September 2013

So as this lovely video myth draws to a close
I just wanna give a shout out to my homie
Mark “The Shark” Pearldiver
for lending me this book for like a whole year before I read it
and also for being a shark
and teaching me that sharks can read
okay here it is::::

Somebody commented on the first video
like hey dude why is your window bricked up
and to that person I say
do you not have depth perception?
my window is not bricked up
there is a brick wall DIRECTLY OUTSIDE my window
watch, I’ll prove it:

So first off, quick announcement:
A collection of rad and well-monied individuals
have purchased enough of my book
to convince me to do a SHIRTLESS MYTH VIDEO for yall
so that will begin on Wednesday
and it will be the Oresteia
If you want to queue up another video myth after this oneYOU KNOW WHAT TO DO
(or if you don’t, click that link)

Anyway I’ve got a special treat for you today
it is called the Infancy Gospel of Thomas
and uh
it didn’t quite make it into the bible
now that I’ve read it, it’s easy to see why
it is because in this book
jesus comes off looking like King Asshole of the Fightin’ Assholes
lemme break it down for you:

So to start with, Jesus if 5 years old
5-year-old boys are automatically terrible people to begin with
they like to play this game called Punch Everyone
where no one wins and the rules are “Punch Everyone”
so now imagine you take a 5-year-old boy
and give him SUPERPOWERS
I have two words for you, my friends:
FUCK.

So one day Jesus is playing by the river with some pals
and he decides to SUBORN THE ENTIRE RIVER TO HIS WILL
he shapes it into like a weird sphere of pure water
which he uses to turn dirt into clay
and then he turns the clay into birds.
Oh, wow
this is actually pretty whimsical and cool
and not as bad as I made it sound at all

except that today is the sabbath
and you’re definitely not allowed to shape rivers with your mind on the Sabbath
God has already laid down all manner of crazy rules about that shit
so some of the kids go tell Joseph
(who is Jesus’s dad)
about what Jesus is doing
and Joseph runs down to the river like BOY
STOP USING MAGIC ON THE SABBATH DAY
GOD IS GONNA BE SUPER PISSED
and Jesus is like “fuck you you’re not my real dad”
and then the clay birds turn into real birds and fly away
and Joseph is like
…

This raises an interesting point
which is what a long-suffering sonofabitch Joseph is
he knows for a FACT that this kid is not his son
so either his wife cheated on him with superman
or his wife cheated on him with God
and either way he’s not no responsibility here
but he still sticks around
and assumes primary responsibility
for a five-year-old sociopath with superpowers
because, see, here’s what happens next:
some kid takes a stick and fucks up jesus’s water sphere
and jesus is like GET FUCKED
and the kid withers up and dies on the spot
and then pretty soon after that
Jesus is walking through town
and some kid bumps into his shoulder
and BAM
ANOTHER DEAD KID
GOD
HEY GOD, BUDDY
YOU DON’T GIVE POWER-WORD-KILL TO SOMEONE WITH NO CONCEPT OF RIGHT AND WRONG
I THOUGHT WE ALL KNEW THIS

so the kids’ parents are understandably pissed
and they go to Joseph like dude
you need to get your son to stop killing all our sons
and Joseph is like I KNOW

so Joseph goes to Jesus like Hey little buddy
you need to stop murdering children for no good reason
and Jesus is like okay
the children are all back alive now
but the people who told you to talk to me about killing children?
THEY’RE ALL BLIND NOW
SHABOOM

So then Joseph figures
that if his kid is old enough to strike people blind
he’s probably old enough to learn to read and write
so he sends him to school
but Jesus is just the biggest know-it-all in the class
and talks circles around the teacher
so much so that the teacher doesn’t even get past the letter “A”
before being like AUGH FUCK THIS
YOU KNOW WHAT DUDE?
YOU’RE JUST WAYYYY SMARTER THAN ME, OK?
I CAN’T FUCKING TEACH YOU SHIT
YOU WIN.

And Jesus thinks this is a pretty response i guess
because he un-blinds everybody he blinded

I’m gonna kind of skim over what happens next
because it all kind of amounts to the same thing
lotta people getting injured, and Jesus healing them without any problems
I guess because he’s starting to grow a conscience about all the kids he murdered.
I think my favorite one is the time where he’s playing on the roof
with a bunch of other kids
and one falls off and dies
because a roof is a dumb thing to play on
and the parents show up and are like JESUS
YOU MURDERED OUR KID, DIDN’T YOU
and Jesus is like nuh uh
and the parents are like JESUS
HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF?
YOU ARE LIKE THAT
BUT WITH MURDER INSTEAD OF CRYING
AND CHILDREN INSTEAD OF WOLVES
And jesus is like okay I know how to settle this
hey dead dude:
did I murder you?
and the dead kid is like NOPE. I DIED OF BEING A DUMB-ASS KID.
I think the best part of this story
is it’s not explicitly stated that jesus brings the kid back to life
so I like to think he just talked to him and let him stay dead
like a jerk

So anyway
after a lot of healing wounds and suchlike
Jesus finally goes back to school
but he doesn’t go to learn
he goes to TEACH.
Before anyone can start talking about grammar or the alphabet or whatever
this six-year-old kid walks up to the front
and there’s a book there
but he’s just like fuck that
and starts saying whatever’s on his mind
and everybody’s like OH MY GOD SO WISE
so that’s when everybody gives up on trying to teach him

There’s other stuff that happens too
but by this point Jesus has stopped murdering kids
and he’s generally just sort of being a disaffected tween
who doesn’t tell his parents where he’s going
or when he’s gonna be home
and then they find him in a church or something
teaching priests and doctors about religion
and Mary’s like Jesus!
we were worried sick about you!
and Jesus is like whatever mom
I am actually objectively holier-than-thou
you don’t own me
and everyone is like YEP
IT’S TRUE
NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT THAT
BECAUSE IF WE TRY THEN HE WILL STRIKE US BLIND

So that’s the infancy gospel of thomas
it’s sort of a clusterfuck
but the moral is clear:
if you’re good enough at murdering people
you don’t ever need to learn how to read

I can’t
I can’t even like
begin to introduce this myth
I just have to tell it to you
ready set go:

So buddha comes to Benares, right?
remember that, it’ll be important later
but meanwhile there’s this nun who really likes sick people
I mean she really likes helping sick people
nobody likes sick people
sick people are gross
but anyway this nun goes through this big ol shack full of sick people every day
and she’s like hey sick people
what’s up
how can i help you
and today there is a monk in there
who is sick because he fasted too hard, like an idiot
and he’s like oh please miss nun
I am suffering from a disease known as
severe meat deficiency
if you could hook me up with some meat broth, I won’t be sick anymore
HOLY SHIT
BEING A DOCTOR WAS FUCKING EASY IN THE PAST
YOU CAN BUY MEAT BROTH IN THE STORE

except no you can’t
it turns out that today is “No-Meat Wednesday” in Benares
and nobody can buy any meat
so the nun is like what the fuck do I do
this guy is going to die and it’s all my fault
oh I know
how about I cut off MY OWN FUCKING THIGH
and make soup out of it
YES
GENIUS.

So she does this unbelievably stupid thing
and she sends one of her servants or whatever to give the monk the broth
and meanwhile she bandages up her profusely bleeding thigh and goes to bed
because mutilating your body is sleepy work

so her husband comes home
(yeah, nuns in india get to have husbands
sweet deal
but apparently nuns in india also have to cut off their thighs and feed them to people
less sweet)
and her husband is like hey baby
howsabout I join you under those sheets and we rub our bits together
(this line gets me laid all the time
when i use it at the old folks home)
and the nun is like actually uh
I am kind of bleeding right now
and he’s like oh you’re on the rag?
no worries, I can deal
and she’s like NO DUDE I CUT OFF MY THIGH
and he’s like HOLY SHIT
HOLY SHIT
You are so
fucking
PIOUS
Oh man honey I am so proud of you

You know, where I come from, they have a saying
that I think applies to this situation:
WHAT THE FUCK?!
Like okay, one person mutilates herself
she’s crazy
one person mutilates herself
and then someone CONGRATULATES HER ON IT?
That’s not double the crazy
That’s crazy fucking SQUARED
this is a geometric progression of crazy

so anyway, buddha’s in town
(I TOLD you that shit would become relevant)
and he’s gonna give a speech or something
but then he’s like hold up
we’re missing a nun
where’s the nun at?
and her husband is like uhhh
she’s sick
and buddha’s like whatever
make her come anyway
and her husband is like I TRIED to make her come
(IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN)
but she can’t walk!
and buddha’s like dude:
WHATEVER
just fucking carry her or something
I’m buddha
you don’t flake on buddha

so her husband gets her and brings her there
and the very moment buddha sets eyes on her
her thigh grows back
like SCHLUP-POW
(if you make this into a comic you have to use that sound)
and then buddha is like okay guys
where’s the monk who ate this chick’s thigh
and the monk is like It’s me, I’m over here
dude I swear I had no idea I was eating a lady’s thigh
and Buddha’s like bro
that’s a pretty fucked up thing you did
you know there’s this weird thing that happens
where if a monk eats an animal
later on he gets killed by that animal
it happens all the time, it’s crazy
but I’m not gonna make this nun kill you
she did a really nice thing
and that kinda cancels out the shitty thing you did
or i guess the shitty thing she tricked you into doing
so everybody’s forgiven
yayyyy!

Okay so I guess the moral of the story
is that cannibalism is okay
as long as it’s consensual.

Everybody loves wars
they cost a lot of money and people get killed
it’s super important to do
that’s why we do it so much
but my friends
what if I told you that I knew about a war
that was like
THE MOST IMPORTANT WAR EVER
would you say HOLY SHIT OVID
TELL ME ABOUT THIS WAR?
God I hope so
because that’s what I’m going to do.

So back in oldetimes BC there is this king named Xerxes
he is king of a place called persia
and I guess persia is getting pretty boring
because one day he decides he’s gonna burn down Greece
so he puts together the biggest army ever
there are like a billion dudes
and elephants
and weird deformed priests on crazy chariots and shit
trust me, i read it in a comic book
or actually, i just saw the movie that was based on the comic book
PRIMARY SOURCE

so greece sees all this shit coming
and they’re like oh no
what do we do
what do we do
and Themistocles is like I’LL TELL YOU WHAT WE DO:
WE NUT UP
OR WE SHUT UP
AND I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU GUYS
BUT I DON’T PLAN ON EVER SHUTTING UP EVER
SO IT’S NUTS OR BUST UP IN HERE

whoa whoa whoa
who is this Themistocles guy though?
WELL I’M GLAD YOU ASKED
(I’m just assuming you guys are saying all KINDS of shit today.
And yes I have been working out
thanks for noticing.)
Themistocles is a dude who lives in Athens
and Athens has a straight up, no-bullshit democracy
which means any crazy asshole can be president
and Themistocles is just the crazy asshole for the job
he doesn’t want to be president though
unless you mean president of ALL THE GUNS
in fact for the five or so years preceding the persian invasion
he’s just been standing in the middle of the senate house
yelling BUILD MORE SHIPS
WE NEED MORE SHIPS
and he is such a good yeller
that people have been DOING IT
and now Athens has more ships than anybody else
and Themistocles is taking advantage

so immediately he starts telling all the other greek cities what to do
because he has all the boats and he figures that makes him king shit
his plan is to gather everybody’s boats together
and then be king of all the boats
and then win the war somehow?
but one of those greek cities he’s trying to tell what to do is Sparta
whose motto is “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”
and they are taking absolutely NO sass from this puffed-up senator
and Themistocles is like okay fine guys
I’ll make you a deal
We do what I say
and in exchange, I’ll pretend like one of your dudes is in charge of the boats
and
AND
you get to send all your best warriors on a suicide mission to this narrow ravine up north
where we can maybe bottleneck the persians and kill them one by one
which will force them to get on boats and sail into my army of boats
after totally not killing all of you
how does that sound?
and Sparta is like AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

But sparta isn’t the only city Themistocles has to convince to do something really really stupid
he also has to convince this other city
called ATHENS
yeah that’s right
he goes back to his own city and he’s like GUYS
LITERALLY ALL THE GUYS
I NEED YOU ALL TO GET ON BOATS
ABANDON YOUR LOVED ONES IN OUR TOTALLY UNDEFENDED CITY
AND SAIL WITH ME SO I CAN BE KING OF ALL THE BOATS
YOU NEED TO DO THIS BECAUSE I’M REALLY PERSUASIVE
HOW DOES THAT SOUND?
And all the Athenian dudes are like RHETORIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIC

so everybody gets convinced
and the plan goes off without a hitch
except for the hitch where the entire land army trying to bottleneck the persians is slaughtered
and the hitch where the boats are forced to retreat
and Athens is burned to the ground
and the fleet is cornered in a series of narrow sea passages
that are the last barrier between Xerxes and EVERYTHING ELSE IN GREECE

But everyone is still really impressed with Themistocles
because, maybe I didn’t make this clear enough
but this guy is REALLY good at talking
and he is also basically THE sneakiest bastard

see, what he does
is while the ships are retreating
he stops at every port where Xerxes might stop to get water
and he leaves a note like
“DEAR EVERY GREEK SOLDIER WHO HAS BEEN FORCED INTO THE PERSIAN ARMY
PLEASE DO A REALLY BAD JOB OF FIGHTING
LOVE, THEMISTOCLES”
the reason he is doing this, you see
is so that Xerxes will begin to distrust all the greek dudes in his army
which begs the question
WHY DOES THAT GUY EVEN HAVE GREEK DUDES IN HIS ARMY?
THAT’S LIKE MAKING A SUIT OF ARMOR OUT OF INWARD-FACING SWORDS

anyway I don’t know if that brilliant gambit works or not
because Xerxes and the rest of the persian boats make it to Salamis
which is the place where all the Greek ships are hiding
and also the plural of Salami
And everyone is like oh shit we are so boned
except Themistocles
who is like LET ME BONE THIS SHIT
so he sends Xerxes a really nice letter
the letter is like
Dear Xerxes
hey buddy
great war so far
I’m actually pretty tired
so I figure I’ll just join your team
these greek guys sort of suck
they are like
mega disorganized
totally attackable
probably all you need to do is rush in blindly with your ships
into a winding system of tiny sea passages that will make your large numbers useless
just some advice from one friend to another
enjoy the war!
love,
Themistocles
And Xerxes is like
OH MY GOD WHAT A GREAT IDEA

so he charges into the straits
and it turns out that the straits are actually pretty dire
and most of his ships get sunk
and he’s like fuuuuck
and runs away back to Persia
and the day is saved!
Thanks to lying!

But guess what, guys?
It turns out that a dude who is super good at lying to people
is not actually someone you want as a politician
it only takes Athens a couple of years to get COMPLETELY sick of his bullshit
and kick him out
and Sparta still has a bone to pick with him because of that whole suicide-mission thing
so they take the opportunity to kick him out of Greece entirely
so he’s like fuck
Guess i better go work for the persians.

AND THAT’S WHAT HE DOES
the dude who is primarily responsible for Greece’s survival in the Persian wars
goes ahead and joins the losing team
he gets MAD hookups, too
like 5 cities worth of loot, paid in installments
he is living the high life.
There’s only one problem though
when Greece decides to go to war with Persia again
the king of persia comes to Themistocles like yo
think you could help me murder all these greeks?
and Themistocles is like oh man
I feel like SUCH a jerk right now
I think I’m going to kill myself.

So he does
he totally drinks poison and dies
or, according to some people, he drinks bull’s blood
which is a pretty gross thing to do, and so i guess he dies from being too gross
unless “bull’s blood” is just a mistranslation of “red bull”
in which case he dies for the obvious reasons.
everyone thinks this is a really appropriate thing to do
because they’re fucking savages

so the moral of the story
once again
is that lying is totally overpowered
unless you wuss out and grow a conscience partway through